Provide evidence on the allegations : O'Neill tells Pruaitch to stop play Cheap Politics
Former PNG Prime Minister Peter O’Neill, has called on the Member for Aitape-Lumi to come clean on any information he has on his claims of wrongdoing during past governments.
Mr. O’Neill said the outburst by the former Treasurer has more to do with the government’s fear of releasing true details on how money is being wasted on the State of Emergency.
“The cheap political point scoring by Patrick Pruaitch is a sign that the government is very sensitive to any question relating to the misuse of funds on the SOE,” Mr. O’Neill said.
“The small group in the executive government continue to show to PNG that they are not capable of providing the leadership the country needs, they just hang around Waigani scheming and play political games for self-interest.
“There are many questions that need to be answered in relation to the misuse of public monies on this SOE, but instead of providing real figures on how much is being wasted to pay for hire cars and consultants, the best the government can do is go on the attack.
“The current Treasurer was the person who raised the questions, so why can the government not provide answers and back this up with facts?
“COVID-19 is a health issue, it is not a policing matter, and money must be properly spent on testing and the provision of personal protection equipment to keep our health care workers safe.
“There are people suffering and lives being lost because of this disorganized SOE.
"The food shortages around the country are not because of the Coronavirus, people are going hungry because of the terrible mismanagement of the SOE and heavy handedness in the wrong areas.
“The government does not even know how many COVID-19 cases there are in the country and contact tracing is not proven to be effective. How is it that of the eight declared cases, there is no real knowledge on how they became infected and who they in turn infected.
“Infections do not appear in isolation, they are linked to other people and groups, and most countries are able to trace these connections and prevent further infections.
“We also need to know the data on any increase in deaths that might be thought to be TB or Malaria, but could possible by be COVID-19, but without testing no one knows.
“When Pruaitch was Opposition Leader not many months ago he was very vocal about government mismanagement and waste, but he went silent when he was bought off by Marape offering him a Ministry.”
Mr. O’Neill said in relation to the claims made by his former Treasurer, that Mr. Pruaitch needs to release any information to back up his accusations.
“Pruaitch was Treasurer and Marape was Finance Minister for most of our time in Government.
“The two of them were in charge of the cheque book, so if there were corrupt deals they would have been at the center of these arrangements.
“They have an obligation to provide concrete and credible evidence to support these serious allegations. But they do not reveal details because there is nothing to show.
“I am looking forward to attending the UBS Commission of Inquiry when it finally gets moving into proper hearings.
“As part of this I again call on the former Treasurer and the former Finance Minister to present evidence they claim to have to this political motivated Inquiry.
“The truth is that he was a minister when Somare sold out Papua New Guinea to the Arabs and he this was the problem we sought to fix and bring back a national ownership stake in our oil and gas sector through legitimate investment.”
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Mr. O’Neill said the outburst by the former Treasurer has more to do with the government’s fear of releasing true details on how money is being wasted on the State of Emergency.
“The small group in the executive government continue to show to PNG that they are not capable of providing the leadership the country needs, they just hang around Waigani scheming and play political games for self-interest.
“There are many questions that need to be answered in relation to the misuse of public monies on this SOE, but instead of providing real figures on how much is being wasted to pay for hire cars and consultants, the best the government can do is go on the attack.
“The current Treasurer was the person who raised the questions, so why can the government not provide answers and back this up with facts?
“COVID-19 is a health issue, it is not a policing matter, and money must be properly spent on testing and the provision of personal protection equipment to keep our health care workers safe.
“There are people suffering and lives being lost because of this disorganized SOE.
"The food shortages around the country are not because of the Coronavirus, people are going hungry because of the terrible mismanagement of the SOE and heavy handedness in the wrong areas.
“The government does not even know how many COVID-19 cases there are in the country and contact tracing is not proven to be effective. How is it that of the eight declared cases, there is no real knowledge on how they became infected and who they in turn infected.
“Infections do not appear in isolation, they are linked to other people and groups, and most countries are able to trace these connections and prevent further infections.
“We also need to know the data on any increase in deaths that might be thought to be TB or Malaria, but could possible by be COVID-19, but without testing no one knows.
“When Pruaitch was Opposition Leader not many months ago he was very vocal about government mismanagement and waste, but he went silent when he was bought off by Marape offering him a Ministry.”
Mr. O’Neill said in relation to the claims made by his former Treasurer, that Mr. Pruaitch needs to release any information to back up his accusations.
“Pruaitch was Treasurer and Marape was Finance Minister for most of our time in Government.
“The two of them were in charge of the cheque book, so if there were corrupt deals they would have been at the center of these arrangements.
“They have an obligation to provide concrete and credible evidence to support these serious allegations. But they do not reveal details because there is nothing to show.
“I am looking forward to attending the UBS Commission of Inquiry when it finally gets moving into proper hearings.
“As part of this I again call on the former Treasurer and the former Finance Minister to present evidence they claim to have to this political motivated Inquiry.
“The truth is that he was a minister when Somare sold out Papua New Guinea to the Arabs and he this was the problem we sought to fix and bring back a national ownership stake in our oil and gas sector through legitimate investment.”
next:
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